1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to database technologies and more specifically to providing a search interface for finding data items of interest from a database system.
2. Related Art
A database system facilitates storage and retrieval of data from secondary storage using structured queries. Structured queries provide for indication of specific conditions that have to be satisfied by data returned in response to the queries. In general, the data returned is independent of the sequence/location at which the data is stored/present in the underlying secondary storage. Structured Query Language (SQL), in case of relational databases, is an example query language using which structured queries are issued to database system, as is well known in the relevant arts.
The data in the database system is stored in the form of data items. A data item is the smallest unit of data that can be retrieved from the database system using the structured queries. In the case of a relational database, in which data is organized in the form of tables, the data stored at the intersection of a column and a row (of a table) represents a data item.
Search interfaces are provided to enable users to find data items of interest. The interfaces are GUI (graphical user interface) based, to simplify various tasks (e.g., specifying conditions for selection of the data items to be returned) the user may need to perform for the search. In general, it is desirable that the search interfaces be as user friendly as possible.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.